Isaiah 29:4–18

4  iAnd you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,

and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;

your voice shall come from the ground like jthe voice of a ghost,

and from the dust your speech shall whisper.

5  But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like ksmall dust,

and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.

lAnd in an instant, suddenly,

6  myou will be visited by the Lord of hosts

with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,

with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.

7  And nthe multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,

all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,

shall be olike a dream, a vision of the night.

8  pAs when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,

and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,

or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,

and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,

so shall the multitude of all the nations be

that fight against Mount Zion.

9  Astonish yourselves2 and be astonished;

blind yourselves and be blind!

Be drunk,3 but not with wine;

rstagger,4 but not with strong drink!

10  sFor the Lord has poured out upon you

a spirit of deep sleep,

and has closed your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is tsealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

13  And the Lord said:

“Because uthis people vdraw near with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

14  therefore, behold, wI will again

do wonderful things with this people,

with wonder upon wonder;

and xthe wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

15  Ah, yyou who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,

whose deeds are zin the dark,

and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”

16  aYou turn things upside down!

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,

that the thing made should say of its maker,

“He did not make me”;

or the thing formed say of him who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

17  Is it not yet a very little while

buntil Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?

18  In that day cthe deaf shall hear

dthe words of a book,

and out of their gloom and darkness

ethe eyes of the blind shall see.